Resisting Officer in Broward County, Florida

Broward County pursues resisting officer charges aggressively and secures convictions at notably high rates. Among 4,126 cases, 51.8% resulted in guilty verdicts and 42.8% in adjudication withheld—combined, 94.6% of defendants faced conviction-level outcomes. This rate far exceeds the statewide withheld average of 14.5%, suggesting Broward judges frequently choose to find guilt without formal adjudication in these cases. The dismissal rate of 3.0% is 1.1 percentage points higher than the statewide average of 1.9%, yet still minimal. Only 0.4% of cases ended in acquittal, indicating these charges rarely survive trial.

Sentences emphasize probation over incarceration. The average sentence was 244 days, but the median of 117 days reflects that most convicted defendants received shorter terms. Average probation extended nearly two years at 700 days. Prison confinement occurred in just 2.1% of cases, while jail affected 29% of sentenced defendants. The gap between median and mean sentence length suggests a small number of longer sentences skew the average upward, leaving most resisting officer convictions in Broward handled through probation-heavy dispositions rather than significant custody time.